Suitcase and Manufacturing Method Thereof

ABSTRACT

A suitcase and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. An upper case shell and a lower case shell are obtained, and a flexible material is fixedly connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell. When the suitcase is assembled, elastic parts are compressed to install two ends of rods on installation parts of the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and a resilience force from the elastic parts is applied to the rods to drive the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be away from each other, and the flexible material connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell is driven by the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be tensioned.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 201910445889.7, filed on May 27, 2019, contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a suitcase and a manufacturing method thereof.

BACKGROUND

Suitcases are commonly used by people in daily life. Existing suitcases are generally of a cuboid shape and typically include an upper-case shell and a lower case shell, wherein a hard plastic plate is arranged between the upper case shell and the lower case shell and is connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell to form an enclosed cavity. However, the manufacturing process of the hard plastic plate is very complicated, and the plate has to be bent into a U shape and is then combined with the upper case shell and the lower case shell. According to another existing technique, the surface of the case shell is made of a textile fabric which is lined with the hard plastic plate. When such structure is assembled, the textile fabric needs to be tensioned and then covers the surface of the lining, which requires workers to be highly skilled to tension the textile fabric all the time to satisfy the requirements.

SUMMARY

The objective of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art by providing a suitcase which is reasonable in structural design and low in manufacturing cost, and a manufacturing method of the suitcase.

The technical solution adopted by the invention to fulfill the aforesaid objective is as follows: a suitcase comprises an upper case shell and a lower case shell, wherein a case side face connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell is arranged between the upper case shell and the lower case shell. The suitcase is characterized in that the upper case shell and the lower case shell have installation parts allowing rods to be inserted therein; the case side face is made of a flexible material, the upper case shell and the lower case shell are connected through a plurality of rods, and elastic parts are arranged between the rods and the upper case shell or/and the lower case shell and are located on the installation parts; when no external force is applied to the elastic parts, the sum of the length of the elastic parts and the length of the rods is greater than an installation length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and the length of the rods is smaller than the installation length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell; when the suitcase is assembled, the elastic parts abut against the rods and the upper case shell or/and the lower case shell and apply a force to the rods to drive the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be away from each other; and after the suitcase is assembled, the rods are fixedly with the upper case shell or the lower case shell.

Wherein, a side plate is arranged between every two adjacent rods, and the side plates are plastic parts or metal parts and are located on the inner side of the case side face.

Wherein, the two ends of each side plate are respectively disposed around two adjacent rods.

Wherein, the side plates includes a rear side plate, a left side plate and a right side plate; the rods include a first rod, a second rod, a third rod and a fourth rod, and the first rod, the second rod, the third rod and the fourth rod are distributed at four points in a rectangular shape; one end of the left side plate is connected to the first rod, and the other end of the left side plate and one end of the rear side plate are both arranged on the second rod; and one end of the right side plate is connected to the fourth rod, and the other end of the right side plate and the other end of the rear side plate are both arranged on the third rod.

Wherein, the suitcase further comprises a handle arranged on the left side plate or/and the right side plate.

Wherein, the upper case shell has a storage chamber, and an opening of the storage chamber is sealed with a sealing body.

Wherein, a reinforcing part is arranged on the side, close to a suitcase opening, of the upper case shell in a width direction of the suitcase.

Wherein, the reinforcing part is a fifth rod which is fixedly connected to the upper case shell.

Wherein, the rods of are of a hollow structure.

Wherein, the rods are made of fiberglass, aluminum alloy, or plastic.

Wherein, two concave parts are arranged below the lower case shell, and a bar which protrudes with respect to the concave parts is arranged between the two concave parts and extends in the width direction of the suitcase.

Wherein, the flexible material is a textile fabric, a plastic film, or a combination of the textile fabric and the plastic film.

Wherein, elastic parts are arranged on the installation parts of the lower case shell and abut against the rods, the rods are inserted into the installation parts of the upper case shell from the bottom of the upper case shell, screws are screwed into the rods from the top of the upper case shell, and the rods are combined with the upper case shell.

Wherein, holes are formed in the ends of the rods.

A manufacturing method of a suitcase comprises the following steps: obtaining an upper case shell and a lower case shell, and fixedly connecting a flexible material to the upper case shell and the lower case shell, wherein in terms of size selection, when no external force is applied to elastic parts, the sum of the length of the elastic parts and the length of rods is greater than an installation length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and the length of the rods is smaller than the installation length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell; and when the suitcase is assembled, the elastic parts are compressed to install the two ends of the rods on installation parts of the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and a resilience force from the elastic parts is applied to the rods to drive the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be away from each other, and the flexible material connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell is driven by the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be tensioned.

Wherein, when the suitcase is assembled, elastic parts are arranged on the installation parts of the lower case shell, the lower ends of the rods abut against the elastic parts, the upper ends of the rods are inserted into the installation parts of the upper case shell, screws are screwed into holes in the ends of the rods from the top of the upper case shell, and the rods are combined with the upper case shell; or the installation positions of the elastic parts are exchanged with the screw-in positions of the screws.

Wherein, after the suitcase is assembled, the rods are fixedly combined with the upper case shell and/or the lower case shell.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages: the suitcase of the invention structurally comprises the upper case shell and the lower case shell which are separated from each other, the case side face is arranged between the upper case shell and the lower case shell which are connected and supported through rods, and the flexible case side face can be tensioned through the elastic parts; the assembly structure is simple, and the assembly efficiency is high; and the frame structure supported by the rods is light.

The case side face of the invention is made of a flexible material, which is easier to manufacture than hard plastic. When assembled, the flexible material is stretched and tensioned by means of the elastic parts, the appearance is attractive after assembly, the assembly process is simple and fast, and the labor cost can be greatly reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a disassembled structural view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembled structural view of the invention.

FIG. 3 is structural view of FIG. 2 from another perspective.

FIG. 4 is a structural view of an upper case shell with a reinforcing part of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the invention clearer, the invention is further expounded below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described hereinafter are merely used to explain the invention, and are not intended to limit the invention.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, this embodiment provides a suitcase which comprises an upper case shell 1 and a lower case shell 2, wherein a case side face 3 connected to the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 is arranged between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 have installation parts 50 allowing rods 4 to be inserted therein, and in this embodiment, the rods 4 can support the upper case shell 1 and hence are rigid to a certain extent; the case side face 3 is made of a flexible material, and the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 are connected through a plurality of rods 4; preferably, the number of the rods 4 is at least four, and a three-dimensional space is defined by the four rods 4; elastic parts 5 are arranged between the rods 4 and the upper case shell 1 or/and the lower case shell 2, and the elastic parts 5 may be arranged at both ends of the rods 4 or arranged at one ends of the rods 4 as required and are located on the installation parts 50; in this embodiment, each installation part 50 may be a cylindrical cavity or a cavity defined by a plurality of discrete bars, and such implementation can fulfill horizontal limitation of the rods 4 and the elastic parts 5 to facilitate installation; and when no external force is applied to the elastic parts 5, the sum of the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of the rods 4 is greater than an installation length between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, and the length of the rods 4 is smaller than the installation length between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, wherein the installation length refers to the distance for installing the rods 4 between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 when the rods 4 are installed between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 and the case side face 3 is tensioned. If the rods 4 are too long, installation of the rods 4 will not be realized after the case side face 3 has been tensioned; or, if the rods 4 are too short, the case side face 3 cannot be tensioned under in the case where the rods 4 abut against the elastic parts 5. When the suitcase is assembled, one end of each elastic part 6 abuts against the upper case shell 1 or/and the lower case shell 2, and the other end of the each elastic part 6 abuts against one rod 4. To assemble the suitcase, the elastic parts 5 need to be compressed first to allow the rods 4 to be installed between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2; and after the rods 4 are installed, the elastic parts 5 apply a force to the rods 4 to enable the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 to be away from each other. In this embodiment, the sum of the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of the rods 4 is appropriate, so that the rods 4 can be installed between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 after the elastic parts 5 are compressed, and the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of the rods 4 are increased, after the elastic parts 5 restore, to tension the flexible material to form the suitable case side face 3.

In this embodiment, a side plate 6 is arranged between every two adjacent rods 4, and the side plates 6 are made of plastic parts or metal materials and are located on the inner side of the case side face 3. Because the case side face 3 is made of the flexible material, the side plates 6 made of plastic parts or metal materials are rigid to prevent the case side face 3 from arching outwards after the suitcase is filled with clothes.

In this embodiment, the two ends of each side plate 6 are respectively disposed around two adjacent rods 4. Particularly, through holes are formed in the two ends of each side plate 6, and the rods 5 penetrate through the through holes to be sleeved with the two ends of the side plate 6. In this way, the side plates 6 and the rods 4 can be connected firmly, and the lateral force bearing capacity is high.

In this embodiment, the side plates 6 include a rear side plate 61, a left side plate 62 and a right side plate 63; the rods 4 include a first rod 41, a second rod 42, a third rod 43 and a fourth rod 44, and the first rod 41, the second rod 42, the third rod 43 and the fourth rod 44 are distributed at four points in a rectangular shape; one end of the left side plate 62 is connected to the first rod 41, and the other end of the left side plate 62 and one end of the rear side plate 61 are both arranged on the second rod 42; and one end of the right side plate 63 is connected to the fourth rod 44, and the other end of the right side plate 63 and the other end of the rear side plate 61 are both arranged on the third rod 43. In this structure, the side plates 6 are separated, so that the manufacturing efficiency is greatly improved, and the manufacturing cost is greatly reduced; and although the side plates are separated from one another, the side plates are assembled in a sleeved manner, so that the lateral force bearing capacity is not compromised.

In this embodiment, the suitcase further comprises a handle 7 which is arranged on the left side plate or/and the right side plate 63. By adoption of such installation structure, the left side plate 62 or/and the right side plate 63 is/are used as an installation platform of the handle 7, so that an extra installation site does not need to be provided for the handle 7 anymore.

In this embodiment, the upper case shell 1 has a storage chamber 8, and an opening of the storage chamber 8 is sealed with a sealing body. The storage chamber 8 is a cavity formed in the upper case shell 1 or a cloth bag disposed on the upper case shell 1, and has an opening allowing articles to be placed therein or taken thereout, and the opening is sealed with a sealing body. Preferably, the sealing body is a sealing cloth, and a zipper is arranged between the sealing cloth and the storage chamber 8. Or, in another implementation, the sealing body is a plastic plate which can cover the opening.

In this embodiment, a reinforcing part 11 is arranged on the side, close to a suitcase opening, of the upper case shell 1 in a width direction of the suitcase. Existing suitcases have an opening allowing articles to be placed therein or taken thereout, and the opening is the suitcase opening. When manufactured, the reinforcing part 11 may be directly formed on the side, close to the suitcase opening, of the upper case shell 1 or may be assembled on the upper case shell 1 later. Since the suitcase opening is formed in the front/back side of the suitcase, the loss of the force bearing capacity caused by the opening can be compensated for by the reinforcing part 11 arranged in the width direction.

In this embodiment, the reinforcing part 11 is a fifth rod which is fixedly connected to the upper case shell 1.

In this embodiment, the rods 4 are of a hollow structure. Although the force bearing capacity of hollow tubes is inferior to that of solid tubes, the hollow tubes are lighter and can reduce the weight of the suitcase.

In this embodiment, the rods 4 are made from fiberglass, aluminum alloy or plastic.

In this embodiment, two concave parts 20 are arranged below the lower case shell 2, and a bar 21 which protrudes with respect to the concave parts 20 is arranged between the two concave parts 20 and extends in the width direction of the suitcase. The two concave parts 20 can enhance the load capacity of the lower case shell 2, and the bar 21 can further enhance the load capacity of the lower case shell 2 and can serve as a handle part for carrying the suitcase, so that multiple purposes are realized.

In this embodiment, the flexible material is a textile fabric, a plastic film, or the combination of the textile fabric and the plastic film.

In this embodiment, elastic parts 5 are arranged on the installation parts 50 of the lower case shell 2 and abut against the rods 4, holes are formed in the ends of the rods 4, the rods 4 are inserted into the installation parts 50 of the upper case shell 1 from the bottom of the upper case shell 1, screws 9 are screwed into the rods 4 from the top of the upper case shell 1, and the rods 4 are combined with the upper case shell 1. In this structure, the lower case shell 2 contacts with the ground, and the elastic parts 5 can be compressed by pressing the rods 4, so that installation is easy and efficient. Preferably, holes are formed in the ends of the rods 4, and screws 9 are screwed into the holes in the ends of the rods 4.

Embodiment 2

A manufacturing method of a suitcase comprises the following steps: an upper case shell 1 and a lower case shell 1 are obtained, and a flexible material is fixedly connected to the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, wherein the flexible material is preferably a textile fabric, a plastic film, or the combination of the textile fabric and the plastic film. If the flexible material is the textile fabric, the flexible material can be sewn to be fixed, or pasted or clamped; and in terms of size selection, when no external force is applied to elastic parts 5, the sum of the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of rods 4 is greater than an installation length between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, and the length of the rods 4 is smaller than the installation length between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2. When the suitcase is assembled, the elastic parts 5 are compressed by means of the rods 4, the two ends of each rod 4 are respectively installed on installation parts 50 of the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, the resilience force from the elastic parts 5 is applied to the rods 4 to enable the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 to be away from each other, and the flexible material, connected to the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, are driven by the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 to be tensioned. In this embodiment, the sum of the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of the rods 4 should be appropriate to ensure that the rods 4 can be installed between the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2 after the elastic parts 5 are compressed and that the length of the elastic parts 5 and the length of the rods 4 are increased, after the elastic parts 5 restore, to tension the flexible material to form a tensioned case side face 3.

In this embodiment, when the suitcase is assembled, elastic parts 5 are arranged on the installation parts 50 of the lower case shell 2, the lower ends of the rods 4 abut against the elastic parts 5, the upper ends of the rods 4 are inserted into installation parts 50 of the upper case shell 1 after the elastic parts 5 are compressed, screws 9 are screwed into holes in the ends of the rods 4 from the top of the upper case shell 1, and the rods 4 are combined with the upper case shell 1; or, the installation positions of the elastic parts 5 are exchanged with the screw-in positions of the screws 9. Preferably, after the suitcase is assembled, the rods 4 are fixedly combined with the upper case shell 1 and/or the lower case shell 2. In the case where the flexible material is tensioned, the rods 4 will not be able to elastically move with respect to the upper case shell 1 or the lower case shell 2 after being fixedly combined with the upper case shell 1 and the lower case shell 2, so that the overall structure of the suitcase is firmer and more stable.

In this embodiment, the elastic parts 5 are springs, elastic plastic sheets, or elastic metal sheets.

The aforesaid embodiments in the specification are merely exemplary ones of the invention. Those skilled in the art may make different modifications or supplementations to the specific embodiments described above, or may make similar substitutions without departing from the contents of the specification or going beyond the scope defined by the appended claims, and all these modifications, supplementations or substitutions should also fall within the protection scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A suitcase, comprising an upper case shell and a lower case shell, wherein a case side face connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell is arranged between the upper case shell and the lower case shell; the upper case shell and the lower case shell have installation parts allowing rods to be inserted therein; the case side face is made of a flexible material, the upper case shell and the lower case shell are connected through a plurality of rods, and elastic parts are arranged between the rods and the upper case shell or/and the lower case shell and are located on the installation parts; when no external force is applied to the elastic parts, a sum of a length of the elastic parts and a length of the rods is greater than the length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and the length of the rods is smaller than the length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell; when the suitcase is assembled, the elastic parts abut against the rods and the upper case shell or/and the lower case shell and apply a force to the rods to drive the upper case shell and the lower case shell away from each other; and after the suitcase is assembled, the rods are fixedly combined with the upper case shell or the lower case shell.
 2. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein a side plate is arranged between every two adjacent rods, and the side plates are plastic parts or metal parts and are located on an inner side of the case side face.
 3. The suitcase according to claim 2, wherein two ends of each of the side plates are respectively disposed around the two adjacent rods.
 4. The suitcase according to claim 3, wherein the side plates includes a rear side plate, a left side plate and a right side plate; the rods include a first rod, a second rod, a third rod and a fourth rod, and the first rod, the second rod, the third rod and the fourth rod are distributed at four points in a rectangular shape; one end of the left side plate is connected to the first rod, and another end of the left side plate and one end of the rear side plate are both arranged on the second rod; and one end of the right side plate is connected to the fourth rod, and another end of the right side plate and another end of the rear side plate are both arranged on the third rod.
 5. The suitcase according to claim 4, further comprising a handle arranged on the left side plate or/and the right side plate.
 6. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein the upper case shell has a storage chamber, and an opening of the storage chamber is sealed with a sealing body.
 7. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein a reinforcing part is arranged on a side, proximate a suitcase opening, of the upper case shell in a width direction of the suitcase.
 8. The suitcase according to claim 7, wherein the reinforcing part is a fifth rod which is fixedly connected to the upper case shell.
 9. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein the rods of are of a hollow structure.
 10. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein the rods are made of fiberglass, aluminum alloy, or plastic.
 11. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein two concave parts are arranged below the lower case shell, and a bar which protrudes with respect to the concave parts is arranged between the two concave parts and extends in a width direction of the suitcase.
 12. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein the flexible material is a textile fabric, a plastic film, or a combination thereof.
 13. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein elastic parts are arranged on the installation parts of the lower case shell and abut against the rods, the rods are inserted into the installation parts of the upper case shell from a bottom of the upper case shell, screws are screwed into the rods from a top of the upper case shell, and the rods are combined with the upper case shell.
 14. The suitcase according to claim 1, wherein holes are formed in ends of the rods.
 15. A manufacturing method of a suitcase, comprising the following steps: obtaining an upper case shell and a lower case shell, and fixedly connecting a flexible material to the upper case shell and the lower case shell, wherein in terms of size selection, when no external force is applied to elastic parts, the sum of a length of elastic parts and a length of rods is greater than the length between the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and the length of the rods is less than the length spanning the upper case shell and the lower case shell; and when the suitcase is assembled, the elastic parts are compressed to install two ends of the rods on installation parts of the upper case shell and the lower case shell, and a resilience force from the elastic parts is applied to the rods to drive the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be away from each other, and the flexible material connected to the upper case shell and the lower case shell is driven by the upper case shell and the lower case shell to be placed in tension.
 16. The manufacturing method of a suitcase according to claim 15, wherein when the suitcase is assembled, elastic parts are arranged on the installation parts of the lower case shell, lower ends of the rods abut against the elastic parts, upper ends of the rods are inserted into the installation parts of the upper case shell, screws are screwed into holes in ends of the rods from a top of the upper case shell, and the rods are combined with the upper case shell; or installation positions of the elastic parts are exchanged with screw-in positions of the screws.
 17. The manufacturing method of a suitcase according to claim 15, wherein after the suitcase is assembled, the rods are fixedly combined with the upper case shell and/or the lower case shell. 